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I kissed her again, with a hint more control this time. It was still incredible. This was never going to get old. We kicked off our shoes and made ourselves comfortable—me with my back to the headboard and her leaning against me.
This didn’t solve the fact that my dad was lying in a hospital bed just a couple of miles away, having narrowly escaped the results of mortality. But it did mean I had Alys. I could hold onto her. She could hold onto me.
We turned on the TV, but I barely registered what we were watching. Some cringy nineties teen movie that was on more for the nostalgia than the plot.
When Onyx got back, he gave us a raised brow look.
“You gonna join us?” I asked.
He set our bags by the closet. “What are we doing?”
“Enjoying each other’s company. Mourning the fact that you’re leaving us,” Alys said.
I couldn’t hide my wince, and Onyx opened his mouth.
“I’m not trying to make you feel guilty,” Alys added before he could talk. “But if we only have a couple more weeks before you move, we should enjoy it, right?”
My point exactly.
“Right.” Onyx nodded and joined us on the bed.
This didn’t change anything, and it wouldn’t last, but I liked all three of us being here like this again. Close. Cuddled together. More than friends.
I wasn’t sure what yet, but Alys and Onyx were my world, and I wasn’t letting that go.
In the morning, I was up before Alys and Onyx, and headed back to the hospital. The muddled mess of yesterday was gone. I wanted to see my dad, make sure he was okay, and hear him grumble about something insignificant so I knew he was going to keep being all right.
I should’ve checked the hospital visiting hours before I came. Were those really a thing? It was after eight on a Friday, and the place was already busy. It should be fine.
I approached the woman at the front desk with a warm smile, and gave her my dad’s name and mine.
“Let me check.” She turned to her computer. As she typed, a frown slid onto her face. “I’m sorry, it’s outside visiting hours for the ICU.”
What? “Should I come back in an hour? Two?” I could grab coffee and go wait with my friends until then.
She shook her head. “For the ICU, hours are from four to seven in the morning and at night.”
What? “Do you get a lot of visitors at 4 am?”
“For ICU patients? More than you might think would be up that early.” Her voice and smile were kind. She gave a soft huff. “Are you alone?”
I looked around me. “Yes. Unless you see someone I don’t.”
“I don’t.” She gave a short laugh. “Promise to not make a disturbance, and I can let you go back there now. We can make exceptions,” she added the last bit in a quiet voice, only meant for my ears. “As long as it’s not going to disturb other patients. And promise you won’t bother him if he’s sleeping.”
“Shh.” I pressed my finger to my lips and whispered, “I promise I’ll be so quiet, no one will ever know except you, me, and Dad—if he’s awake.”
She gave me his room number, and pointed me in the right direction.
An uneasiness grew inside me as I got closer to my destination. Would he be in the mood to talk? Would he be the man I knew? What was I walking into? I pushed the thoughts aside as I knocked on his door.
“Yeah.” That certainly sounded like Dad.
I pushed into the room, to find him lying in bed, looking a bit like in a TV show, but in a more cramped room. He was pale, like the sheets. Though, without the blue flowers on his skin. Tubes and wires ran from him, and a hint of heavy bandages showed on his chest, above the blanket.
The way he stared at me for a moment made me think he was having trouble focusing. They must have him on painkillers, right? They’d pried open his rib cage less than a day ago to cut into his heart.
“Hi, Dad.” I forced a friendly tone.
